Learn More: Creativity in Action
3M Company enjoys a worldwide reputation as an innovative company. According to the firm's cultural values, creativity generates new ideas and innovation turns those ideas into reality. Learn how 3M creates and exploits new ideas, and how the firm has prospered from new ideas in some interesting and unexpected ways.

At 3M's home page, click on "About 3M," and then select "A Century of Innovation," then "Innovation Chronicles." From the collection of short stories about 3M innovators, find a product category that interests you and read the story. You may want to read three or four different stories to find a particularly interesting and/or instructive one. Three recommended stories are "Dick Drew and the invention of masking tape," "Art Fry and the invention of Post-it notes," and "How Harry Heltzer and his glass beads produced 3M's first reflective sheeting."

1. What was the creative idea that got things going?
2. What barriers or obstacles did the innovator encounter? How were they avoided or overcome?
3. Did the innovator get help from others? What sorts of help?
4. How did 3M foster a good climate for creativity and innovation?

Check It Out
Information-processing style has been studied from many perspectives, and one of those is by looking at temperament. Visit the web site of HumanMetrics, which offers several types of tests. Select the "Jung Typology Test," and complete the questionnaire.

To interpret your Jungian type in terms of information processing style, look at the second, third, and fourth letters of your four-letter type. The second letter indicates how you prefer to receive information, that is whether you prefer to receive information from the external world (Sensing, or "S") or from your imagination (Intuition, or "N"). The third letter indicates how you tend to make decisions, that is, whether you rely more on your reason (Thinking, or "T") or on your emotions (Feelings, or "F"). The fourth letter indicates how you prefer to implement your decisions, that is whether you prefer to act according to plans (Judging, or "J") or according to open-ended improvisation (Perceiving, or "P").

Together, these letters form four distinctive temperaments: SP, SJ, NT, and NF. Explore the HumanMetrics Web site for more information about these four types. Another good source of information about the types can be found at keirsey.com.

1. After viewing descriptions of your temperament, do you feel the results are an accurate description of you? Why or why not?
2. Some people say that this test is overly simplistic and cannot give any useful information. Do you agree or disagree, and why?